Closings

Severe Weather

Celebrities: Where were they born?

Many stars are born in Hollywood, but the people who become those stars are usually born somewhere else. Oscar-winner and Hollywood "It Girl" Jennifer Lawrence, for instance, was born in Louisville, Ky.

Lawrence is just one of many celebrities who are native Kentuckians, including fellow actor Johnny Depp, who was born in Owensboro, Kentucky.

George Clooney is yet another native of the Bluegrass State. While he now splits his time between homes in Lake Como, Italy, and Los Angeles, Clooney was born in Lexington, Ky., and was raised in Ft. Mitchell, Ky.

Amy Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy, while her father was a U.S. serviceman stationed at Caserma Ederle, or Camp Ederle. Her family moved from base to base before settling in Castle Rock, Colorado, when she was 8 years old.

Katy Perry was born near Santa Barbara, Calif., to Pentecostal pastors and grew up listening primarily to gospel music and singing in churches between the ages of 9 and 16. Her debut album, 2001's "Katy Hudson," was released on the Christian music label Red Hill Records.

Seth Rogen was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is where he was still living when he landed a small role on the short-lived TV show "Freaks and Geeks."

Justin Timberlake got his start toward superstardom growing up in Memphis, Tenn. He still has roots in the community today, donating to the Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum and the Memphis Music Foundation and owning a minority share, along with his wife, actress Jessica Biel, in the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.

Actor Morgan Freeman (and his soothing voice) was also born in Memphis.

"Magic Mike" and "White House Down" star Channing Tatum was born in Cullman, Ala., but his family moved to rural Mississippi when he was 6 years old and he grew up in the bayous near the Mississippi River.

Kanye West is well known for his love of his hometown Chicago, but he wasn't, in fact, born there. The rapper was born in Atlanta and moved to Chi-town with his mother at the age of 3 after his parents divorced. West's fiancée, Kim Kardashian, meanwhile, was born, not surprisingly, in Los Angeles.

You might be tempted to think Miley Cyrus was born in either Orlando or Los Angeles, given her early Disney Channel fame and famous father, but the singer was actually born in Nashville, Tenn., true to her father's country roots.

Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon was born in New Orleans while her father was a student at Tulane University medical school. However, because her father worked for the military, she lived in Wiesbaden, Germany, for four years as a child, before returning to the U.S. with her family and settling in Nashville.

Taylor Swift may have excelled as a country music singer, but she wasn't born in Nashville. Instead, the singer-songwriter was born in Reading, Pa., and grew up in neighboring Wyomissing before moving to Nashville at age 14 to pursue a career in country music.

Halle Berry may be one of Hollywood's biggest stars today, but she actually was born in Cleveland. Her birth name was Maria Halle Berry, with her parents choosing her middle name after Halle's Department Store, then a Cleveland landmark.

Anne Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her family moved to Millburn, N.J., when she was 6 years old and that's where she grew up.

Maroon 5 frontman and "The Voice" judge Adam Levine was seemingly destined for stardom, having been born and bred in Los Angeles.

Henry Cavill, who played the most American superhero of all in 2013's "Man of Steel," is actually a Brit, having been born on the Channel Islands in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy.

Cavill is hardly the only Brit to portray one of America's favorite superheros on the silver screen, as actors with roots in the United Kingdom have almost had a monopoly on the roles as of late. Christian Bale, born in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, played Batman/Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy.

And while Andrew Garfield, now playing Spider-Man/Peter Parker in "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies, was born in Los Angeles, his family moved to Britain when he was 3 years old, and he was raised in Epsom, Surrey, England.

Beyoncé was born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles in Houston, Texas.

Another native Texan is singer/actress Selena Gomez, who was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, and named after Tejano singer Selena, who was murdered almost three years after Gomez was born.

Singer-songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and showed from an early age a feel for the beat, playing the snare drum in his hometown middle school and high school marching bands.

Samuel L. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn.

"Mad Men" star Jon Hamm was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was 2 years old, and he lived in the St. Louis suburb of Creve Coeur with his mother until her death from colon cancer when he was 10.

You may think Robin Thicke is Canadian thanks to his famous dad, "Growing Pains" star and Canadian icon Alan Thicke. And he is, thanks to dual citizenship. But the "Blurred Lines" singer was actually born in Los Angeles.

Before settling in Capeside, Mass., as Joey Potter in "Dawson's Creek," actress Katie Holmes spent her youth in Toledo, Ohio.

Madonna, "The Material Girl," was born in Bay City, Mich., and grew up in the Detroit suburbs of Pontiac and Rochester Hills, before going off to New York and becoming a rock star.

Actress Sandra Bullock was born far from Hollywood, in Arlington, Va.

There's nothing alien about film star Demi Moore, even though she was born in Roswell, N.M.

Film and television actor Neil Patrick Harris was also born in the Southwest, in Albuquerque, N.M.

Musician Prince was born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, Minn. -- and still calls the state his part-time royal residence.

Before she made "Friends" in Hollywood, Jennifer Aniston was born in Sherman Oaks, Calif.

Robert De Niro knows East Coast characters like the back of his hand, probably because he was born in New York City.

Oprah Winfrey's humble beginnings were in the small southern town of Kosciusko, Miss. She was later raised in the inner city of Milwaukee before becoming one of the most influential women in the world.

Brad Pitt, unlike his fiancee, Angelina Jolie, did not hail from Los Angeles. Brad was born in Shawnee, Okla.

Director James Cameron has taken us on trips to Pandora and aboard the Titanic, but was born in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada.

Before becoming a pop princess, Britney Spears was born in McComb, Miss., and raised in Kentwood, La.

Rock star Tina Turner immortalized her hometown of Nutbush, Tenn., in the song she wrote, "Nutbush City Limits."

Director Quentin Tarantino was raised on movies, but born in Knoxville, Tenn.

Movie producer and director Stephen Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and started his film career as a boy in Phoenix.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use.